THE sun was shining and the town was packed for this year's Festival of Colours 2023.
A full programme of events and workshops was on at the Forum and outside the Town Hall.
The festival is organised by BarrowFull. The day showcased traditions from across the world such as Japanese music and a Polish Marzanna workshop.
However, it also featured acts from closer to home, including Morris Dancing, circus and weaving workshops, and carnival drums from the Boom Dang Band.
The free events took place in the town centre, the Forum's theatre and conference rooms, and in the Town Hall.
Rappers SWERVE and JD, who are Josh Spedding and Josh Duncan, worked as event staff for BarrowFull and helped children from their social enterprise Horizon Stars put on their performances for the event.
Horizon Stars helps to provide children from Barrow opportunities in music through production equipment and support.
READ MORE: Festival of Colours to return to Barrow town centre
JD said of the event: "It's a nice combination of lights, colours and all the different disciplines and cultures, and it's just a really show.
"Last year was great as well - and it's stepped up. It's expanded, it feels like there's more people here.
“Especially right in the centre of town and alongside the new mural that’s been done up, we were saying I don’t know when Barrow has been like this.”
SWERVE said: "It's good to bring people together and it's nice to see some familiar faces as well. People you've not seen in a while and sharing that experience together."
JD said the event was "very well thought through" as there was a good variety of acts and "nothing was on for too long."
Jane Blackburn, an artist from Preston, was in the town centre with a costume she had spent two weeks preparing.
She said: "It’s made from steels and a bit of welding and aluminium rods, all designed to keep the weight down but be comfortable and have a bit of movement.
“People have really been waiting for some colour and some spring to come, everybody’s enjoying themselves it’s great.”
This year's Festival of Colours (April 1) also coincided with the proclamation of council services shifting to new Westmorland and Furness combined authority.
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